Mt. Sterling and Brown County
Brown County, the third largest county in the JWCC District, is a largely rural area with a total population of just under 5,000. Mt. Sterling is the county seat; it is home to Dot Foods, which began as a small, family-owned business in 1960 and grew to be a Fortune 500 Company and the industry leader in foodservice redistribution. Mt. Sterling also is the home of the Western Illinois Correctional Center, a medium security facility operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections. Other major employers in the county are Timewell Tile, Mental Health Centers of Western Illinois, and Laborers and Contractors Joint Apprenticeship Training Center near Cooperstown. The county’s unemployment rate is routinely one of the lowest for the state of Illinois. The county is served by a weekly newspaper and by other media in nearby counties. The JWCC/Dot Foods Learning Center provides a variety of classes to the general public in addition to Dot Foods employees.




